


Aftershocks

by stylishbutdefinitelyillegal



Series: Come Little Children [1]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Forced Cannibalism, Gen, Implied Child Death, implied gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-01 06:04:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12150216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stylishbutdefinitelyillegal/pseuds/stylishbutdefinitelyillegal
Summary: Whenever there has been a trauma, there are aftershocks. Bill Denbrough knows this all too well.





	Aftershocks

**Author's Note:**

> For this universe, the whole amnesia thing that happened in the miniseries and the novel basically does not exist. The kids still remember each other and everything that happened to them. This takes place after my planned story proper which will probably have to wait until I have done my second re-read of It. Basically It has decided that rather than consume Bill, It would much rather make him like Itself. Enjoy! There will be more to come.

He still remembers the feeling of Its hands on his face. The way it had pried his jaws open and forced the piece of Itself that It had carved from Its flesh past his lips. How It had then placed Its hands over his mouth and nose, cutting off his air, until Bill was forced to swallow. The feel of it sliding sickly down his throat, Bill gagging and wanting to retch, but held still and silent by the webs surrounding him and the monster that held him deep under ground.

Later, bodies. So many bodies, brought to him by It to feed on. At first, It had had to shove the meat into his mouth, holding his struggling form still. Quickly, however, It had learned that threatening to bring him the corpses of his **_friends_** to feed on worked wonders to ensure that he would eat what he was given. Bill would reluctantly open his mouth, choking and gagging on the corpse meat, but managing to make himself swallow.

For his **_friends_** , to keep them safe.

All the while, he could feel himself beginning to _**change**_. His teeth had slowly started to become sharper and there were times when he felt as if his skin and muscles and _**bones**_ were shifting. Bill remembers with revulsion how **_pleased_** It had been when It had come back to Its lair one day to see that Bill’s eyes had begun to dimly glow.

The worse part had been when It had begun to speak to him as if he were Its _ **child**_ , when the mocking ‘Little Buddy’ and ‘Little Friend’ had turned to ‘Child’ and ‘Little One’ without a hint of the old menace. How It would stroke the sweaty hair from his forehead and wipe the tears from his face. Would tell him that soon the change would be over and so would the pain that his fragile human emotions caused him. Then he would know only the joy of being _**eternal**_ and they would hunt and feed. _**Together**_.

In the end, however, his friends had found him. Found him and _**rescued**_ him and forced It back into the depths of Its lair, past even where It had kept Bill. As they had hurriedly taken him back up to the surface, it seemed that some force (some _**Other**_ ) was working feverishly to undo the transformation that It had tried to bring about in Bill. Halfway up, his eyes had stopped glowing. When they had reached the surface and entered into the Barrens, the shifting feeling under his skin ceased. Running his tongue hesitantly over his teeth, Bill could feel that the sharp points had disappeared and they were normal again.

When they had arrived at Bill’s home, he had been pleasantly stunned to find that his disappearance had seemed to knock his parents out of the near catatonic state they had been in since George’s death. His mother had swept him into her arms and his father had engulfed them both in a bear hug, shocking Bill with the tears that streamed down his face. Seconds later, Bill had burst into sobs as well.

He had, of course, been rushed to Derry Home Hospital where he was checked and double-checked and fussed over by the doctors and the nurses and his parents. The police had come and questioned each of the Losers in turn. They had decided to tell as close of a version of the truth as they could. Bill had been kidnapped by the same person who was killing children all over town. They had taken Bill to the sewers and held him captive during the time he was missing. Bill’s friends had gotten a feeling, just a _**feeling**_ that whoever it was had Bill, they had him in the sewers. They had gone in and managed to find him before the kidnapper could return. The others had been admonished by the officers for doing such a _ **dangerous**_ thing, but also praised for finding their friend.

There had been a small blurb in the paper, with the mayor coming to see Bill and having his picture taken with the rescued boy and his hero friends. Bill was discharged a week later and things had quickly gone back to normal, with the town soon forgetting and moving on.

At least the town did. The same did not hold true for Bill. There were changes, small and far in between, that few noticed, save for his friends.

If he sometimes jumped at shadows, if he stayed in the less isolated parts of town, if he hurried quickly past any sewer drain he saw (always with a wide, _**wide**_ berth), if he frightened and bewildered his parents with his sudden, mad refusal to eat any form of meat, if the only times he felt truly, really safe were when he was surrounded by and buried under the warm, soft, _**breathing**_ bodies of his friends, well.

The other Losers did not mention it and would only hold him tighter.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Burning](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12166176) by [LadyVisenya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyVisenya/pseuds/LadyVisenya)




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